Violence claimed 150 lives during January in Karachi

01 February, 2014

KARACHI: Despite the claimed arrest of 14,000 criminals by law enforcers, Karachi remained undulant; violence gripped the metropolis, as around 150 people lost their lives in the first month of the ongoing year.

Karachi remained unstable throughout the targeted operation with political and religious killings of different people, as well as bomb attacks by extremists and extortionists that rocked the city. All efforts for establishing peace and security in the metropolis have failed miserably.

During these five months of operation initiated with the purpose of 'maintenance of peace, as many as 14,000 criminals were detained by law enforcers', but none of the arrests seem to have affected the activities.

Dozens of 'targeted' raids in different localities, though did fill up many lockups on a daily basis, most of the suspects, after getting the numbers published in the papers were released after questioning. A very few were booked in petty crime, while even lesser numbers were kept in custody for further questioning.

The police and Rangers in their press conferences claimed the arrest of many extortionists, target killers and other criminals but the real target killers seem out of their reach and are not only hitting their targets successfully, but also challenging the performance of law enforcement agencies - intelligence, police and Rangers.

Meanwhile, several politicians in Sindh government claimed the city was becoming more restful on occasional days when no killings were reported in the metropolis.

Rangers and police, who were busy in restoring peace in Karachi, also became victims of target killings and bombs attacks. At least 25 policemen and three Rangers' personnel have so far lost their lives in the first month of this New Year.

The bronze attack was on the senior officer of Crime Investigation Department SP Chaudhry Aslam Khan, who was killed along with two other personnel in a Vehicle Improvised Explosive Device (VIED) blast at Lyari Expressway near Essa Nagri within the jurisdiction of PIB police station, on January 9.

Another major attack on police officials occurred on January 25, when unidentified assailants targeted two police mobile vans in Landhi locality. The attack left at least six policemen dead.

Rangers' personnel were not spared either and several lost their lives when terrorists targeted Rangers Headquarter in a triple bombing in Nazimabad on January 29. At least three Rangers personnel lost their lives in the twin IED attacks and a suicide bombing that day.

During the politically motivated targeted killings, around two workers of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), three affiliated with Pakistan People's Party (PPP), one affiliated with Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), one activist of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, three workers of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Sami (JUI-S), and one worker of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat lost their lives in separate incidents. It is worth mentioning here that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists were also contributing in the killing of political workers especially in District West, District Malir and other TTP strongholds.

Apolitical and religiously motivated murders were 73, while 35 people died at the hands of abductors

It is worth mentioning here that last year was the deadliest in which around 3,000 people lost their lives in separate incidents of target killings, killing after abduction, and different bombs attacks. In January 2013, around 291 people lost their lives to violence.

End.

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